


Jedi, Second Time Around

by TheDefenderoftheFaith



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Anakin needs to learn to forgive himself, Gen, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Redemption, Resurrection, Second Chances, force ghost anakin skywalker (kinda), lots of questionably cannon characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 07:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23467546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDefenderoftheFaith/pseuds/TheDefenderoftheFaith
Summary: When Anakin Skywalker finds himself resurrected on an Earth of superheroes and villains to finish fulfilling his prophecy, he needs to learn how to trust in himself again and save the universe from the ancient plans of the Sith. Warriors of old will rise anew, fallen heroes will rediscover their identity, and only one thing is certain for our heroes: the force will be with them.  Done on request for joe63129.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jmn5405](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmn5405/gifts).



**This is done on request for** **joe63129!**

The sky was blue. Anakin felt like there might have been some more… insightful realization that could have gone through his head, but there he was. He was lying on grass, the sky was blue, and there were fluffy white clouds in the sky. As things went, it could’ve been worse. 

He could’ve been lying in sand. 

He picked himself up, and his tunic shifted around him, indenting the grass where he was sitting. He brushed small green leaves out of his hair. This all seemed very normal for having been dead a few moments ago. 

That  _ had _ happened, hadn’t it? He was sure… Luke had been there. His mask had been taken off, there’d… there was an explosion, right? Yes, yes… but… it hadn’t  _ ended _ there. There’d been… 

He’d been with Luke. He’d seen Obi-Wan, and Master Yoda and… they’d said something, hadn’t they? He had to remember... 

He pulled off his glove and pushed his metal hand against his forehead. Dressed like his days as a Republic General… interesting. The cold metal against his skin helped him think, the machinery as good a pick-me-up as a strong cup of caff. 

Surely he could remember… surely if he  _ tried _ … 

_ “You’re not all gone, Anakin.” _

Yes! Yes, this was what Obi-Wan had said!

_ “You were created by the force for a purpose, and that purpose has gone unfulfilled.” _

_ “Anakin. There is no balance in the force. So you must still restore it. You must atone for your deeds as Vader. You must fulfill your destiny. The force will send you where you need to go. There, you must discover your true fate, and finally fulfill the prophecy. But mark this: this is your final chance. You will not have another. Should you fail in this… the whole universe will succumb to chaos. And only you can stop it. May the force be with you.” _

Well, then. That seemed simple enough. Anakin ran a hand over his face, tendrils of power reaching out around him… very strange. His scars were gone, but his arm was still metal… very strange. 

He pushed himself to his feet. His head still felt in a fog, a blur. Not too long ago (he thought) he had been dead. Now, he wasn’t, and apparently he had a mission to accomplish on top of that. He needed to meditate, tap into the force and clear his head. But first, he needed to find food, shelter… he needed to know where he was. 

A presence lit up behind him, as footfalls thumped over the ground. A boy, human, looking to be about 11 years old. 

“Hey. Kid. What planet is this?”

Kid looked at him strangely, and tilted his head. “What’s that supposed to mean? Earth, of course!”


	2. Chapter 2

“Wha- what’s that supposed to - oh, come on. I guess you don’t get a lot of aliens around here, do you?”

“I mean - sometimes. But not like… usually.”

“Well, at least I’m not  _ completely _ in the middle of nowhere. What races do you know?” Anakin pressed a hand against his head, wincing a bit. Man, he needed to meditate. 

“Oh, um. Kryptonians, Tamaranians, a buncha Green Lanterns… but some of them are different species I think. Stuff like that?”

“Man… none of this makes any sense to me. What space sector is this?”

“ _ Sector _ ? I dunno, man. It’s… Earth. I think we’re in the Milky Way?”

“Wait. You said Green Lanterns? Do they… patrol space?”

“Yeah. Like police or something… look, man, where did you  _ come _ from? Are you a super hero?”

“Oh no. Oh  _ no _ . I’m in the Lost Quadrant!”

“What?”   
  


“You… it’s a section of space that’s been cordoned off for eons since the Great War of the Sith… I bet that means nothing to you.”

“... Do you need anything, dude?”

“Ugh… yeah, food. And to be able to lie down. You got a house, kid?”

“I guess. Are you really an alien? Are you gonna be a superhero?”

“I… I don’t know what that is.”

“Well, come on. I’ll tell you all about it. I don’t think my mom will mind  _ too _ much. Since you’re a real life alien and you need help and everything.”

“Thank you.” The kid shrugged, and started off, explaining all about a League of Justice and Outlaws and Outsiders, and all Anakin can do is wonder what he’s supposed to do now. 


	3. Chapter 3

Anakin wonders what kind of world this is to be so surprised by aliens and yet so full of them. He sighs, deep in his meditation and thankful for the hospitality of complete strangers. 

But…  _ what _ does he do now? Something is wrong, he can feel it. He should be… different. He remembers his past… what he’d done… every terrible stroke of his lightsaber, every corruption of the force in the clench of his fist… 

Why should things be like this? He’s different, he can tell. Not just his body but… his mind… it seems pulled from the corruptions of Vader, of all those decades of death and evil… he must have reverted to the last time he was a true Jedi, rooted in the light… and with a fully functioning body, of course. Had he looked like this when he’d appeared to Luke? Maybe? 

It had been hard to tell things like that. Being non-corporeal. But hadn’t he had his scars still? Anakin looked over his human hand again. They must not have been enough a part of his identity to stick around. He reached up to his eye. Well, that one was still there. 

Until he learned differently he was sticking with the theory that he was resurrected with the most important parts of himself. The parts most entrenched in his identity. That seemed plausible enough. 

But what was he supposed to  _ do _ ? How was he to restore balance to the force? How was he supposed to live? Even on this backwater planet, he was a mechanic, he supposed. Maybe he could get work there. 

But… he turned his palm over, watching it clench. 

But Vader. 

But corruption and death and evil. 

How could he ever touch the force again, really reach into it, how could he  _ trust _ himself when he’d been so easily seduced before? How could he know that he wouldn’t become that…  _ thing _ again? 

He couldn’t… he couldn’t trust himself with the force. Not for a long time. It would be hard, staying away from something so literally a  _ part _ of him… but there was no other choice. 

He needed to learn about this world before doing anything else. Needed to get his bearings. The force would guide him according to it’s will whenever it wanted. Until then… yesterday he died.

Right now he needed to relearn how to live. 


	4. Chapter 4

As it turned out, Anakin had been right. Mechanics  _ were _ in demand on this planet, and the laws for the naturalization of cyborgs with only slightly shaky backgrounds were surprisingly effective. One job at Sunrise Mechanics later, Anakin was firmly employed and learning a  _ lot _ about ancient machines. 

Despite the fact that there appeared to be geniuses in this world with, frankly, some incredible technology, Anakin was pretty sure they were being paid to  _ not _ sell their inventions to the public, to protect the workers. The fear seemed to be that if said machines were released, then millions of people would be out of work. Well, Anakin had no intention of disturbing the status quo on this Earth. If they wanted to stay rooted to the ground while other people while a bunch of superheroes lived in a satellite… that was their culture. 

Anakin had had enough of disturbing other people’s culture. 

“It was the rotator cuff, wasn’t it?”

“Hm? Yeah. Busted up pretty good, too.”

“Called it.” Naomi Sunter leaned over the hood of the car to grin into Anakin’s face. Her tangled brown hair stubbornly scratched into her face, abandoning her ponytail. “You could’ve saved yourself so much time.”

“Well, I wanted to be thorough. That thing needed a good check-up anyway.”

Naomi laughed. “What it needed was to find it’s higher calling in a recycling plant. My goodness, what a wreck.” She pushed off the hood, shifting her oil covered overalls into a more comfortable position. “Well, now that you’ve wasted the rest of your shift on checking a piece of trash I diagnosed immediately, it looks like you’ve only got time to reject my offer of fencing class before you go.”

Anakin grinned, shaking his head. “Naomi, you  _ know _ I don’t want to get into a fencing class. It’s just not… something I want to get into.”

“Well, you’ve got to do  _ something _ , you hermit. Fencing, sculpting, synchronized swimming… just do  _ something _ with other people!”

“Naomi, this is really enough for me. If I ever want to go do… something else… I’ll do it, okay? But I really like this quiet life right now. Maybe later.”

“Every time you leave we have this conversation, and every time I accept your denials a little less.”

“Sorry, Naomi.” Anakin stepped back, and wiped his hands off on an already filthy rag. “But I gotta get out of here. Even the suburbs of Gotham are gonna be dangerous in an hour or so.”

“I don’t know why, Skywalker, but somehow it feels like you’re not really so worried about getting in trouble.”

Anakin laughed, and moved to gather his things. “Don’t get too lonely without me, Naomi.”

“I wouldn’t conceive of it.”

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

> _ Thud _ < Anakin’s bag hit the couch and rested forlornly on the lumpy surface. Anakin groaned, and rubbed at the back of his neck with his metal hand, wondering how it was possible to get so exhausted from simple mechanic work. Repressing the force was hard. Not using it for everything from guiding his judgments to turning a hard-to-get screw was difficult to remember, though it was getting easier. 

Naomi was nice, In some ways, she almost reminded him of his mom. Timid, honestly, but once she got to know you and got her mind set on something… well, Anakin didn’t even know how many times she’d tried to pull him into something or other. 

But… he just couldn’t do it. He had to control himself, and  _ fencing  _ of all things, was not the best way to distance from his past self. But even other things… attachment had been what had gotten him into being Darth Vader and if he made attachments  _ again _ … he couldn’t risk it. 

Couldn’t risk the force, couldn’t risk attachment… couldn’t risk anything. He caught himself raising his hand to turn on the television before mentally slapping himself and walking over to the remote. Old habits… 

_ “We interrupt this bulletin to bring you important news! Famed villain 2-Face has escaped Arkham and is leading the police on a chase that seems to be headed for Kane country. Citizens are advised to stay indoors at all costs. I repeat, citizens are advised-” _

Anakin grunted, and shoved his palm against his head. “I shouldn’t go.” The pressure increased and screeched at him. The Force, it seemed, had other ideas. “I’m not using my powers.”

_ “Again- except in the case of the most extreme emergencies, civilians  _ **_must_ ** _ stay indoors-” _

Anakin grabbed his lightsaber. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

“You’re  _ two _ late, Copper!” Two Face cackled as he careened down the road in his getaway car, tossing something behind him. The wind caught in his hair, whisping it over his eyes; billowing his cackles into the grime-stained alleys of Gotham. Whatever he’d tossed exploded, shoving debris into the Gotham street, effectively burying the cop’s car. 

Anakin narrowed his eyes, ducking against the cold stone of the alley. 

He wasn’t going to catch up to Two-Face if he passed him.That car needed to stop, needed to stop now and… his hand flexed, trembled, reflexively. He didn’t want to. Oh, he didn’t want to. 

The car screeched, tearing around the bend: one car first, another behind, Two-Face’s twisted presence coming from the one in the back. 

  
Anakin’s hand drifted for his lightsaber: pulled back. His hand tensed, trembled. A car billowed past him, dust flying upwards, choking and staining and then a second car, far, near, closer… 

And then it exploded. A shadow landed thudded onto the roof, glass shattered out of the windows, and it swerved, wildly, careening to scrape against the building in an unearthly scream of disfigured metal. The shadow didn’t move, and when the car finally jolted to a broken halt, it slid gracefully before the car, one flickering headlight all that was there to illuminate it. Her.

Anakin could feel it. 

The other car stopped, careening back towards them, halting in time for a hail of bullets to erupt from it’s interior, occupants all doing their best to hit the shadow. 

The shadow had no intentions of being hit. 

She darted towards the wrecked car, where it’s men were stumbling out as the pervasive smell of leaking gasoline filled the air. Two-Face growled, and leveled a glock at her head. She ducked, spinning behind him, to block the 1 st car’s gunners. A hand snaked out to grab the weapon, and Two Face growled, grabbing for her hand as another goon tried to shoot her in the side. 

Anakin’s hand flew out and shoved the man backwards, sending his bullet whining into the air. Charging out of the alleyway, he positioned himself between the 1 st car and the shadow, twirling his lightsaber too fast to be followed, reducing the metal insects to so much slag. 

He felt the force welling in him, wanting to grab them all together and toss them down the street, end this all so easily… but he wouldn’t. He  _ wouldn’t _ . What if he went too far-what if he...

He settled for charging. Somewhere behind him, the shadow was slipping between men, untouchable and fluid. 

He needed to grab the guns… but he shouldn’t… but what if it ricocheted? What if it hit someone?

He reached out and  _ yanked _ the weapons from their hands, sending them skidding away from all combatants. He felt sure that he was making the wrong decision. He switched off his lightsaber. 

The men glanced at each other, confused. “Hey, you can’t do that! No capes in Gotham!”

Anakin pursed his lips and closed the gap between them. The man growled, and threw himself forward, fists first. Anakin grabbed his wrist and flipped the man head over heels, making sure to clip his head against the ground to keep him down. 

The other three narrowed their eyes and charged, one from the left, two from the right. Anakin planted his feet. 

They couldn’t all charge him at once, so two came on first, one aiming high and the other aiming low. Anakin dropped and swept the legs of right-guy out from under him, grabbing and spinning to throw him into left-guy. 

And then there was a knife in his face. Guy 3 had recovered quickly. Anakin leaned backwards, eyes widening, as he took advantage of Guy 3’s open posture to knee him in the groin as he used the upwards momentum to throw him up and over, cracking his head on the ground. 

He was heavy, though, and Anakin was unused to fighting like this. Anakin was pulled over with him, landing heavily on his back as the other two lurched forward, switchblades coming out of their pockets. 

A wraith flew over Anakin’s head and twirled, a blur over the two figures… and then they were down. 

Anakin started to push himself up, then gasped, falling onto an elbow and holding his left wrist. 

“ _ Ugh _ .”

The girl stepped over to him, and crouched, pushing her face forward to inspect him more closely. He blinked. 

This was a bat. No doubts about it. The ears sort of gave it away. But… there wasn’t much else to see. The mask looked… hand sewed, with stitching in a half-moon around her mouth, and hollows under the eyes. She felt young. And… good. Pure.

She motioned for his hand, and he scooted into a sitting position to give it to her. 

She pursed her lips. “Sprain.” 

Yeah, no kidding. “What’s your name?”

She looked up. “Batgirl.” 

Anakin nodded. “Anakin.” 

She nodded. “Help?”

“Not a very talkative type, are you?” He hadn’t entirely expected a response, so he wasn’t surprised to not get one. “Well, if you’ve got any ice close to here I guess I could use it. I’ve got work tomorrow…” 

She stared at him, then nodded, curtly. She pointed to an alleyway, then held a finger straight up. While Anakin was trying to decipher what  _ that _ meant, she dashed off towards the buried cop car. Right. 

-Go to alleyway. Hide. 

Anakin could manage that. He dashed to hide against the buildings, holding his wrist tight to his chest. Clenching his teeth, he leaned his head against the wall, debating force healing to speed up the process. 

If he tried it… what if he went too far? What if he used it to heighten his abilities too? What if… he didn’t really need it. He would heal by himself, it was only a sprained wrist. He had a robotic arm. He would still be able to work-

And suddenly, Batgirl was there, with a surprising fluidity that made so many people declare that Bats could teleport. Anakin wasn’t so sure - even dampening his abilities as he was, it didn’t feel  _ quite _ like teleporting… but who knew. 

Batgirl motioned with her hand for Anakin to follow her, and Anakin let out a breath, trying to follow her effortless movements. She would move ahead and pause, allowing Anakin to catch up with her, leading him through the concrete jungle, over fire escapes and rooftops, and, soon, into a decrepit warehouse with boarded up windows. 

Anakin followed her prompting to enter through a hole in the boards, moving to a couch as she slipped away, quickly returning with ice and bandages. For some reason, she had taken off her mask, showing asian features with short black hair pulled into a ponytail. He let her grab his hand and wrap the bandages tightly around the joint before pushing ice on top. 

She glanced up at him, then, and guestered to his other hand curiously. Anakin sighed and rolled his eyes, tugging off the glove. 

“Look pretty cool?”

Her eyes did indeed go wide, staring at the metal limb in undisguised wonder. She grabbed it and turned it over, inspecting it from all angles. 

Anakin sighed, resigned, but not really annoyed.

Batgirl eventually put down Anakin’s hand, and scooted closer. 

Anakin shifted, uncomfortable with this new form of scrutiny. 

“Why help?”

Anakin grimaced, not sure if he was going to be able to communicate the force to this evidently linguistically challenged vigilante. 

“It… it was something I needed to do. And I wasn’t going to let you get hurt.”

Her head tilted, and Anakin felt like she was pulling him apart, inspecting him in a way no one without the force ever had. 

“You… uncertain. Guilt.”

“Wha-I’m not-” There was clearly no point in lying. “Yeah. Fine. But that’s my business. Thanks for the help, but I think I’m good-”

“Good person.”

Anakin froze. “What?”

“You are… good. Good heart.”

“You have no idea what I’ve done.”

“I’ve… done bad too. But you are... good.” She reached out and put a hand over his heart. 

“You think from here. Broken heart… broken… thoughts. But, good heart. Will be good.”

Anakin felt his throat go dry, as his eyes burned. 

And then her mask was on.

And then she was gone. 

Anakin picked himself off the ground. He had a long way to go to get back home. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

  
  


“What happened to  _ you _ ?”

“Hi, Naomi?”

“Don’t give me that, you’ve been in a fight!”

“Not a  _ bad _ fight.”

Naomi rushed over and inspected his eye worriedly. “Well how was it, then?”

“Some guys were trying to jump this girl… really, it’s fine. Police got ‘m and everything.”

“Woah, man! You trying to take over for Batman, or something?”

Anakin turned around, to see a brown haired man striding toward him. “Who-”

“I’m Ulisses. Just in here for a tune-up… seriously, though, what happened to you?”

“Just a fight. Helped a girl being ganged up on. What needs a tune-up again?”

“Jeep. But, seriously, man, that’s awesome! You didn’t just let ‘em go, did you?”

“Wha - of course I did, the police were there.”

“I’m just sayin, man, if  _ I’d _ been there, they woulda learned a real lesson! I’ve always wanted to be a real hero…” the man espoused, tossing an imaginary rapier into the air and flicking it around. “Fight the villains, rescue the damsels…” he broke off and raised an eyebrow at Naomi. “You don’t happen to need rescuing, do you?”

Naomi blinked and leaned back a little, flustered. “...No.”

“Too bad! If you ever need a rescue,” he winked, “I’m always on call.”

Naomi glanced around uncomfortably, shifting around her footing. 

“Ulisses! Are you coming?”

A blond headed teen popped into the room, skipping over to Ulises. “Are you bothering the mechanics again?”

“Wha-  _ no _ . I am not. That guy beat up some muggers. Cool, huh, Cole? Guys. This is Cole, he’s my bro; say hi, Cole.”

Cole, Anakin and Naomi stared at each other for a moment. 

“Um. Hi, guys. Sorry for whatever my dumb brother did before I came in, I’m Cole.”

“Anakin. And this is Naomi.”

Naomi nodded, still looking a little unbalanced, but recovering herself. “Nice to meet you, Cole.”

Cole grinned. “Thanks. And I am sorry about my  _ dumb brother _ ,” he glared at Ulisses who grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “He means well.”

Ulisses nodded, smiling. “Right! I didn’t mean to come on so strong, there. I just… what you did, man, it’s what I want to be doing. Making a difference. Doing something… real for people. Even if no one else knew about it… I’d know, right?”

Ulisses stuck out his hand for Anakin to shake, and grinned when the gesture was accepted. 

“Thanks, Ulisses. Honestly, though, I think adventure is overrated. Just live a good life. Take what comes to you.”

“Man, how can you say that? All the trouble going on in the world…  _ somebody’s _ gotta go looking for trouble.”

“Well, hopefully not somebody with custody of a dependent minor?” Cole crossed his arms and shot his brother a challenging look. 

“Right, right. You know I’m not  _ actually _ going to do anything, buddy.”

Cole rolled his eyes. “If you’re done fangirling can we please get our Jeep fixed?”

“What happened to it anyway?” Naomi cut in. 

“Ah, well!” Ulisses exclaimed. “This reckless young one right here decided to try to set a new speed record in our jeep, and he was going so fast that he didn’t even notice the debris in the road, blowing out two tires at once. I always tell him to drive more carefully-”

Cole turned around slowly, mouth agape. “Oh,” he started. “Is  _ that _ what happened.  _ I _ did that. Me.” He set his hands on his hips and cocked an eyebrow at Ulisses. 

“Yep, that’s what I remember.” Ulisses turned back to Naomi. “Help a guy out?” 

“Well, it’s what I’m paid to do,” Naomi said, a smile twitching at her mouth. “So I suppose I can suffer through it.”

Ulisses threw back his head and laughed. “You’ve got my thanks, then. I’ll try to stay bearable, but no promises.”

Naomi shook her head, chuckling softly. “Of course not. Come on, you want to show me what’s going on? You too, kiddo.” 

Cole grinned and glanced up at Ulisses, who just shrugged. “Whyever not? If you’re going to blow out our tires you might as well watch her fix them.” 

Cole spluttered as Naomi led them away, his protests fading into the concrete floor and plaster walls. Anakin shook his head as he moved to go to work. He had to test drive a Honda Civic today, and there was absolutely nothing that made him miss his starfighter more than that. 

As he moved toward the vehicle, he jerked as he felt himself  _ pulling _ the keys toward himself. They fell in a metal jangle to the floor, and Anakin tilted his head back, and breathed. 

Why was that? He’d noticed for a while that it was easier to forget and use the force when around Naomi, but since Ulisses and Cole had come in, it almost felt like it was even harder to remember. But why? Why?

Anakin walked over to scoop up the keys, internally grateful that no one had been around to see it, and made his way toward his impending sweet, sweet ride. Hopefully, no one would recognize his face. 

* * *

“How do you  _ live _ , Ulisses? You spend so much time hanging around here, I don’t see what you could do for a living. How many weeks since we met? And you’re still… hanging around here.” Naomi raised an eyebrow at Ulisses, putting out a hand for Cole to hand her a wrench as she did her best to unscrew a tight cap from the undercarriage of a grey sedan. 

“I’ve got my ways. Don’t you go worrying about me, we’re doing fine!”

Naomi huffed, letting the oil spill out, to be collected before she could replace it. “I wouldn’t  _ dream _ of it. Cole, what have you been up to recently?”

“Well, I made the starship Enterprise out of LEGOS, but I can’t show it to you without my phone.” Cole glanced at his oily hands. “I’d rather not, right now.”

“Understandable. Thanks for helping me out around here, Cole. I appreciate it!”

Cole grinned. “I think it’s fun! And it’s cool to see all the cars and stuff, even if you are just changing oil half the time.”

“Hey, you could always come with  _ me _ on my test drives. Those are fun!” Anakin called from across the room. 

Cole perked up, but Ulisses crossed his arms. “You drive too crazy! What kind of guardian would I be if I let my bro risk his neck on you?”

Cole deflated as Anakin snorted. “Oh because you drive  _ so _ safe.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s  _ me _ driving. I trust me.”

“And you don’t trust  _ me _ ?” Anakin asked in mock-offence.

“It’s different! Cole? Back me up!”

Cole shrugged. “Ulisses is a paranoid sissy. Explained!”

“Brat! If you weren’t so far away and I weren’t sitting down I’d get up and knock some sense into you!”

“Nyeh!”

“Cole, can you help me check for rust corrosion? What do you think?” Cole turned back to Naomi in inspecting the undercarriage of the vehicle. 

“Hey, guys,” Ulisses cut in, a little quieter than usual, “you think you’d like to drop by our place? Nothing fancy, just… hang and pizza, maybe?”

Naomi glanced over at him. “I’d  _ love _ to, Ulisses. Would it just be us?”

“Yeah, yeah! Just us four. Hanging. Y’know.”

“Anakin?” Naomi turned to Anakin, a smile tugging at her lips. “C’mon, it sounds like fun.”

Anakin glanced down, then up again as Naomi asked him the same question as everyday, silently, with her eyes. 

“Sure! Sounds like fun.” Anakin shot a grin at Naomi. “Count me in.”


	7. Chapter 7

“-probably the best goal I ever scored in a game! You shoulda seen it, the crowds were going nuts, I was going nuts; basically it was epic-”

“Ms Sunter, come to my room, I can show you my  _ Enterprise _ !”

“Alright but… no ‘Ms Sunter’, okay? It feels weird!”

“...Aunt Naomi?”

Naomi stilled, then beamed. “Of  _ course _ Cole! That would be wonderful.”

Cole grinned and pelted ahead of her to his room, leaving Anakin with Ulisses. 

Anakin glanced around at the walls, noting the decor. “Fencing?”

“Yeah, I’ve always liked it. Elegant but… still dangerous, right?”

“Yeah… you know, Naomi has a fencing club or something she goes to. It’s called the Temple of Knights, I think.”

“No way, I go there too!”

Anakin glanced up in surprise as he followed Ulisses into the kitchen for more pizza. “Really?”

“Yeah! I didn’t know Naomi went, though; never saw her. I go in the mornings; guess she must come later.”

“Yeah, Naomi comes to work in the mornings… that must be it.” Anakin continued to look around, gaze moving over trophies from more sports than he could name. “Well, it looks like you keep busy.”   
  


“I try, man. Can’t stand doing nothing.” Ulisses snagged a piece of Hawaiian and chowed down. 

Anakin snorted and reached for meat lovers. “You’re  _ disgusting _ .”

“-ey, this is the  _ stuff _ . The fruit makes it… healthy!”

“No, I don’t think it does.”

“Fruit is healthy. Cole says so.”

“I think Cole is the only person with any sense in your household.”

“Yeah, but he’s boring. Kid only eats cheese pizza. Of all the unoriginal…” Ulisses trailed off, shaking his head in disappointment. “Sometimes, I can’t believe we’re related!”

Anakin nodded, and reached for another slice, catching himself just as the piece started to  _ lift _ off the cardboard. Anakin grabbed it quickly, and dropped his gaze to the floor. What was wrong with him? What was it about Ulisses that made restraint so hard to remember?

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

“And over  _ here _ is where they keep the engines. This is the fastest ship in the whole universe!”

Naomi nodded, smiling. “It looks fast.”

“Yeah! I built it without instructions or anything - just made it up. And this is where they have the turbo lasers!”

Naomi grinned. “I watched Star Trek a long time ago, but I don’t remember turbo lasers.”

“I’m not sure if they’re really in the show, they just sounded cool. And here’s the bridge, and ooh! The main reactor core is in here!”

Naomi nodded, turning around to take in the rest of Cole’s room. It was cluttered, and decorated wall to wall in posters, action figures and a random assortment of other objects she couldn’t identify. Naomi’s arm brushed against a shelf of action figures, and one tumbled off it’s wooden perch. 

Cole’s hand snapped out to catch it without his even turning around. 

“Your reflexes are  _ good _ !” Naomi praised, placing the toy back where it belonged. 

Cole turned and grinned up at her. “Not as good as Ulisses’s! He always kills me when we play video games or spar.”

Naomi shrugged. “Well, he is a lot older than you.”

Cole scrunched up his nose. “Only six years. It isn’t  _ that  _ much.”

“When you’re 15, it is  _ that _ much. It won’t matter so much when you get older, though.”

Cole sighed, and put down his ship. “When I grow up, I’m gonna learn to be a great fighter, better than Ulisses. That way whenever he gets in trouble,” Cole glanced up at Naomi and smiled. “I can protect him.”

* * *

Anakin pushed his door open, the creaking of wood melding with his thudding steps on the paneled apartment floor. 

The Force whispered to him, barely a murmur of a presence sparking in his consciousness. 

Anakin whirled to the window, as tendrils of cold air chilled the room from it’s open sille. A shadowed figure crouched in the frame.


	8. Chapter 8

Anakin jerked back, hand instinctively flying to his hip, before remembering there was nothing there, and instead moving to grasp his keys. 

“Who are you?”

The shadowy figure tilted it’s head toward him, still crouched in his window, before stepping calmly into the room, cape enveloping most of it’s small body.

“Robin. Batgirl tells me you ran into her recently.”

Anakin blinked. Robin. “...Yeah. Do you need anything?”

“I wanted to see you. Metas aren’t usually welcome in Gotham.”

“I’m not a metahuman. And I live in the suburbs anyway.”

The slits of Robin’s eyes narrowed. Anakin was  _ sure _ now that this was just a kid. Older than he’d been when Qui-Gon had found him but… not much. 

“Then, what are you?”

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s complicated. And none of your business.”

“Taking care of Gotham is my business. If you aren’t a meta, what are you?”

“... Human. I’m just not from around here.”

“No human could do what you did, back there.”

“Well, I’m different.” Anakin drew himself up straight. “But, I don’t have a metagene.”

Robin nodded, pursing his lips. “Are you willing to stay in contact with us?”

Anakin started. “What? Why?” 

“We try to make sure we’re in contact with all potential allies… or enemies.” Robin stepped forward, shoulders loosening. “But Batgirl is convinced you’re on our side, and I believe her. So. Are you willing to be on call? Just in case?”

Anakin glanced down, considering. A reserve member of… whatever this was. It was like promising to use the force again, violently, no less. But as long as they only called when they needed him… could he just leave people to die? 

“Only in emergencies.  _ Only _ then. I don’t want to be… a soldier.”

Robin nodded, giving him a smile and looking far too young to be a soldier himself. “Of course!” He slipped Anakin a card and what looked like a transmitter. “Don’t let anyone else get ahold of those.”

Anakin nodded, slowly. 

“And, just to be clear… you have telekinesis, at least short term clairvoyance, a robotic arm and fighting experience?”

Anakin narrowed his eyes. “More or less.”

“Well, we’ve got your first mission.”

“ _ What? _ ”

“There’s a human trafficking ring, and we think they’re going to try to bring people into Bludhaven through Gotham. They’ll be passing through here. You’ll receive your briefing once you plug this-” Robin unfolded part of the transmitter till it stuck out, “into your computer. Good luck.”

“Wait, you don’t have anyone else who can handle this?”

“We’re busy. Lots of things are happening that need our attention; we really can’t tell you about them. And you’re familiar with the territory, and given your… talents, you should be able to handle this on your own. If we tried to pull in others, we’d need a group, which is more conspicuous. Anyway, Batgirl says we can trust you with this. So. Hopefully you’re ready.”

And Robin flickered out Anakin’s window, without a footprint on the tile or a smudge on the glass to betray that he’d ever been there. A phantom, but for the two small objects in Anakin’s hands.

Anakin blinked, shoulders falling as he tried to take his new situation in.

“...What?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Anakin leaned back, fingers steepled as he considered the glowing screen in front of him. Human trafficking. Slavery. 

An emergency? Yes, yes certainly and Robin  _ said _ they needed him, he’d said so… wasn’t there anyone else? Should they have to ask anyone else if he was the best chance for those poor people? 

Whispering reservations and suffocating doubt said yes, but a lighter, stronger part of Anakin called no. He couldn’t just leave people to... crippling humiliation and pain and even death when he could… this was personal. He knew what was happening to them, knew it in a way that stabbed into his heart and showed him their fates as surely as if they were suffering and dying in front of him. 

So here he was. Alone. Undercover. A psychopath with a laser sword and crippling self-doubt, feeling not a bit closer to ‘saving the universe’ than he had been when he’d first woken up and was greeted by a cloud smeared sky. 

Where does he go from here? 

Anakin turned his attention back to the video staring him in the face. He hit replay; dragged the video past the briefing till it began to restate his mission. Anakin leaned forward intently as the mechanical voice began again.

_ “You do not need to bring down their entire operation. All we need is that you get the lay of their operation and retrieve at least one of their victims. We know that there is a specific group who has been moved to at least 5 separate locations, and, by interrogating them, we hope to be able to bring them all down at once. You will be looking for someone with a bracelet like the one shown-” _ the screen flashed as a red bracelet spun around the screen. 

_ “And you will extract them as subtly as possible. Immediately bring them to this location-” _ again, the screen displayed a map of Gotham with a flashing location pin,  _ “and signal with your communicator as soon as you are out of their facility.” _

Anakin hit pause, and ran a robotic hand through his hair. He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, and let out a quiet huff of breath. “May the force be with me.”

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

  
  


The corridors were dim, and the air was stale with stagnant dust and suffering. Anakin pulled shields tightly around himself to block out the overwhelming misery and terror emanating from every direction. His backpack was an invisible weight on his shoulders, stocked with only the barest of preparations. He ducked against a wall as a presence started moving toward him with confident, solid steps. A guard, probably. A force suggestion lifted itself from Anakin’s core and settled over the suggestable mind, forcing the guard to ignore Anakin’s presence completely. 

Anakin moved forward again, taking careful note of the crooks in the hallways he’d studied so carefully on the rough map he’d been given, the blanks being filled in by intuition and the force. He was nearly there, now, the cameras little trouble when he could  _ nudge _ them in the other direction. 

All whoever was at the monitor would see was the camera glitching; holding to one side for a smidge too long before continuing it’s rounds. 

Anakin turned another corridor, grinning. Sometimes even that wasn’t necessary. Sometimes, simple timed running could get you past the rotating cameras without detection. 

Still, though. It was going to be hard to make it back out with a passenger in tow. Anakin closed his eyes and  _ reached,  _ reached into holding cells and  _ brushed _ against minds of guards, searching and gleaning for specific shimmers of information. 

There. A weak minded guard, staring, staring at… Anakin squeezed his eyes closed, and focused. Yes. A red bracelet.  _ Perfect _ . And now to find the right person to extract. 

_ “What are they like?” _ Anakin whispered,  _ pushing _ just a little bit. He was doing so much,  _ using _ so much, but he couldn’t help it. These people, he was here and he needed to help them. He couldn’t  _ help _ helping them. 

What were they like... A girl. Timid, scared. Sometimes she didn’t talk for days. No, not her. A boy, constantly begging to be set free. He cried for hours, and didn’t even notice when he was beaten into the ground. Not him. Another girl, a fighter, constantly attacking anyone who came near her without thought or restraint. He couldn’t take her. 

A boy. Older teenager or young adult. He’d tried to escape 4 times, and those were just the times the guard knew of. He stayed calm and collected, even in the face of punishment. He wouldn’t stop giving food to the children. The Force sang it’s approval. Him. Anakin would take him.

Now for the part where he would extract someone without attracting any undue attention… Anakin  _ pounced _ on the guard’s mind, slipping in to separate the man from his control. 

_ Bring him out. Take him outside. Down the hallway. A left, a left and a right. Nownownownow. _

The guard stuttered and jerked and moved, pulling forward on the strings Anakin had attached to his person-puppet. Anakin felt remorse and  _ fear _ pool in his stomach at what he was  _ doing _ , but it was pointless to feel and he ignored it. 

Anakin stayed slouched by the wall, until the guard walked up with his prisoner in tow. A solid blow to the head, and the guard went down against the wall. It felt strange not to kill him, but Anakin didn’t have anything close to the legal rights to kill on this world, so live he would. Besides, it was one of the stipulations listed in the briefing, not to kill for any reason. 

The boy looked up at him. His pale, almost yellow face topped by blond hair held a pair of inquisitive brown eyes that peered at his newfound rescuer. 

“Who’re you?”

“Anakin. You?”

“Titus.” 

“Right. Well, Titus, I’m with the bats. Are you ready to make an exit and bring this place down?”

Titus’s eyes widened and he gave a firm nod. “There’s nothing I’d like better. There’s others here too, though, kids…”

“We’ll come back for them. We need to get you out so you can give us information on this and your previous holding facilities. Can you do that, Titus?”

Titus frowned, but nodded slowly. “Anything.”

Anakin gave his best reassuring grin. “Good. Now we need to move like the tinnies themselves are on our trails.”   
  


Titus frowned in confusion, and Anakin could’ve punched himself in the face for being so dense. Hopefully Titus wouldn’t think too much of that. 

“Follow me.” Anakin leapt forward, Titus shadowing right on his heels. Anakin reached out to  _ shove _ the camera into position, forced to hold it longer to accommodate two people racing along under it. 

They were going to notice. Someone was going to find the unconscious guard, or someone was going to notice the increasingly obvious tampering with the cameras, and the alarms were going to go straight off. 

And then they did. 

Alarms blared through the hallways, in soul-piercing shrieks that never failed to set Anakin on fire with fear and mindless ecstasy. Anakin tossed his head and laughed because it had been  _ so long _ and Titus looked at him like he was crazy and maybe he was but he was crazy and  _ alive _ .

Guards trickling into the hallway were met with force shoves that sent them flying back and Titus’s eyes flying open in equal measure. Anakin set the force behind them, shoving them forward into a leaping race that Anakin slipped into like a second skin and that had Titus stumbling and struggling for balance. 

Titus struck his arms out to the sides, and sank into force running like he was born to do it. Anakin laughed, and this time Titus joined him. 

Suddenly, Anakin came to a sudden, screeching halt, as they came up against the locked metal door.  _ No _ . Anakin had been hoping against  _ hope _ that they wouldn’t be able to do… that. He’d known it was possible, but he’d hoped the old and rusting equipment wouldn’t be able to force a lockdown like this… 

Out whipped the lightsaber, illuminating Titus’s awed face in blue energy, but before Anakin could start the plunge into the metallic door, the popping of gunfire echoed in his ears. 

Anakin spun to melt the bullets into slag, whirling to catch them all, as guard after guard entered the room, and… this was bad. 

Bullets were worse than blaster bolts. Blasters were bigger, and could be reflected back at your enemy. Bullets were near invisible, and melted and evaporated uselessly. Anakin slipped into the force, sensing every bullet before it made it’s mark, becoming a blur of motion. 

But as long as he was here, he couldn’t hotwire that door open, and with the eternal wellspring of guards, it was only a matter of time. 

Titus’s presence burned behind him, before the boy moved forward to stand behind Anakin. “Let me! I’ve spent years fencing; I can do this!”

Anakin wanted to laugh, wanted to tell him that that was the most  _ ridiculous _ thing he’d ever heard, but when he touched Titus with the force, strange things happened. 

Perhaps Titus couldn’t hold them off alone, but if Anakin were to… guide him with the force, maybe, combining Titus’s skill with the Force boosting his reflexes and instincts… Anakin didn’t have a better plan, and besides. This felt  _ right _ .

Anakin nodded and spun out, slipping the metal hilt into Titus’s waiting hands and seamlessly moving to use his metal hand to tear into the wires beside the automatic door. 

Titus was a blazing presence in the force behind him, light dancing off the dim walls as Titus illuminated the corridor with righteous protection. 

Anakin grabbed and twisted and reattached wires, and the door gave a dissatisfied screech and opened. Anakin grabbed his lightsaber back from Titus, and backed out of the hallway with Titus running before him until Anakin was able to  _ yank _ the door back closed. 

“Run!”

Titus didn’t need to be told, and they burst into the night, cold air raising goosebumps and sending hair on end, as Anakin reached for his communicator. 

“We’re clear! Repeat, we are  _ clear _ !”

There was no response, as Anakin had been told not to expect one. 

“Follow me!” Anakin yelled, taking the lead again, as he threw glances over his shoulder, knowing that at any moment armed men would come pouring out of their hive like so many enraged bees. 

In the openness of the city, with the presences of  _ people _ scattered all around them, with the ability of the enemy to flank them like this… Anakin wasn’t sure he and Titus could escape. 

Right on schedule, the sound of pounding feet ricocheted off the buildings as the furious men thundered after them. Rubber squealed as motorcycles and cars tore after them. Titus gasped, fear tainting his presence. 

Anakin could only stare desperately ahead, and grip his lightsaber, hoping against hope that the bats had some sort of back-up in mind. Contrary to the preference of the briefing, his exit had been anything but subtle.

There was a roaring that grew ever louder as it tore toward them from the opposite direction of the facility. Anakin frowned, unable to sense any living being coming from the sound. 

And then it burst on them. Black as night and capable of an unliving fury that only one vehicle on any world could be capable of. The Batmobile. Anakin laughed again, because of  _ course _ Batman would be prepared. 

The car screamed past them, making a beeline for their pursuers, and Anakin grabbed Titus to pull him down an alley, tossing him an oversized hoodie from his backpack and pulling them out of view as screams started to echo from their once-pursuers. 

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

“It’s in here.” Anakin glanced furtively down the street before leading Titus to the warehouse. “This is where I’m supposed to drop you off.” 

Anakin sighed, eyeing the warehouse door, letting his shoulder’s drop in relief, his guard falling. 

“What are you  _ doing _ ?!”

Anakin gasped and whirled to shove his lightsaber in the face of... Ulises. 

“What are you  _ doing _ here?”

“Can we go inside, please?” Titus begged, hunched over, still hiding his face in the hoodie. “Please?”

“Right, um, yeah, don’t worry, this is just…” Anakin switched off his lightsaber. “This is my friend, he’s, uh… he’s good don’t worry.”

Titus nodded anxiously as Anakin used the lockpick in his finger to open the lock. At this point, there was just no reason to keep the arm a secret. 

While Ulises’s eyes were doing impressions of silver dollars, Titus pushed into the warehouse, still hunched over. 

Ulises trailed after, and Anakin shoved the door shut again. Titus gasped deeply and pushed the hoodie off his head. Anakin found a lamp, undoubtedly left there by a Bat, and switched it on. 

“Okay, I know you probably have a lot of questions, Ulises, and I know the first one is probably-”

“Titus, is that  _ you _ ?”

Titus jerked, and took a closer look at Ulises.    
  


“Ulises? You’re  _ here _ ? I don’t… I don’t believe it!” Titus gave a gasp and moved toward Ulises, trembling. “You’re  _ here _ !” 

Ulises reached out to crush Titus in a hug, squeezing the smaller boy against his chest. “I can’t believe it! I didn’t think we were ever going to see you again!”

“ _ O- _ kay,” Anakin began, “now  _ I’m _ the one with questions. How do you know each other?”

“We had a fencing class together,” Ulises offered, letting Titus rest against his chest. “He got to be really good friends with Cole and I. But one day he disappeared and…” Ulises looked down on Titus who squeezed his eyes shut instead of offering information. 

“Buddy? You good?” Ulises ran a calming hand over Titus back, as a hitch jerked the blond’s shoulders. 

Titus nodded emphatically, before wiping the beginnings of tears onto Ulises’s shirt. 

“I w-went out by myself and I knew that I shouldn’t but I did anyway… and they were there and… and I’ve just been back and forth ever since. I’ve just been getting shoved around to different places ever since…” Titus turned his watering eyes toward Ulises. “They couldn’t break me.”

“I know they couldn’t, bud. I know.”

  
Ulisses squeezed Titus one more time, before shaking his head helplessly. He grimaced, and turned toward Anakin. “You’ve got our side of the story. Now you’ve got a  _ lot _ of explaining to do.


	10. Chapter 10

“What do you think, Ani? Fencing classes? Just once?”

Anakin glanced at Naomi, then at Ulisses, who was sitting with his head resting on his folded arms, staring. Ever since Anakin had been forced to explain his abilities (I was born with them) and hand (I built it myself) Ulisses had taken to staring at Anakin for long periods of time, silently, with brow furrowed. Anakin had the distinct feeling that if he were to reject Naomi’s offer he was going to get a different partner walking home. 

“You know what, Naomi? I’d love to.”

* * *

The building was bigger than Anakin had expected, and nicer. Arched ceilings hung high overhead, and everything practically shown with a clean, bright, sheen. 

Naomi led him forward to a man who seemed to be in charge. The man stuck out his hand, and leaned forward with a friendly smile. 

“My name’s John, what’s yours?”

“Anakin, pleasure to meet you.”

“Anakin, huh? Ulisses has told me about you - you’re his other mechanic friend, right?”

“That’s about the long and short of it,” Naomi remarked. “Anakin, John here is in charge of pretty much everyone, but he and Ulisses have a pretty special bond. I’ve learned more about John since I learned that Ulisses and I both fence here. John and Ulisses train together, and they’re good friends.”

John chuckled. “I like to think that _we’re_ good friends too, Naomi! But you’re not wrong.”

Naomi giggled, slapping a hand to her mouth and ducking her head. Anakin grinned, tilted his head at John. 

“I suppose Ulisses could use a good teacher!”

“He’s a good student. A great student, in fact. I’ve never really trained anyone like him… so much passion. He’s going to be great one day, I know it! Honestly, he’s practically a son to me.”

“It’s good to know Ulisses has someone else watching out for him,” Anakin mused. “He’s a great guy he just… gets in trouble sometimes, you know?”

John raised an eyebrow insightfully. “It sounds like you’re speaking from experience?”

Anakin laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Plead the fifth? How about you teach me a thing or two?”

John laughed deep, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “How about it. How much experience do you have?”

Anakin paused only a moment, having expected this. There was no way he’d be able to hide all his experience, but there was no good way to explain his using forms that didn’t exist. 

“Well, my father taught me some when I was younger, but I don’t know what you’d call the forms, or where you’d consider my experience level.”

“Mmm. Well, I suppose we can just spar and see where you’re at.”

Anakin was led to the mats, and, after fitting the proper equipment, took a basic stance as he faced John. He had to be careful to hold back… but he wasn’t going to make this easy.

The rapier was fairly similar to his lightsaber, all things considered. Light enough to almost be negligible, especially with his metallic hand. Besides, all one had to do to score was touch the opponent, unlike cleaving with a sword. The only disadvantage was that it felt like fighting Dooku again. 

Anakin surged forward, surprising John, who had expected far less aggression. The next few moments spun into a blur of Anakin’s attacks, as John defended, waiting patiently for an opening. 

John finally struck out, a blurring attack that was only deflected by the elegant twists of Makashi. John’s eyes flew open, in his moment of surprise his guard dropped, and Anakin’s rapier flitted in to score the final point. 

Anakin panted, and shoved away the faceguard, unsure and uncaring of whether or not he was following proper procedure. In either case John followed suit, staring in wonderment. 

“What was that?”

“Ah, a move my father taught me.”

“Incredible… I’ve never seen anything like it… never…”

Anakin shrugged, and tried not to look suspicious. 

“It’s incredible because… well…” John stared deep into Anakin’s eyes; searching, wondering. “It’s rather similar to some moves I’ve been working on myself.”

“Is that so?”

“...Yes… your father taught you, you say?”

“When I was younger, yeah.”

Naomi started walking up to them, and Anakin grinned in her direction, before John interrupted. 

“Could I speak with him - your father?”

“I’m afraid he passed on some years ago, sorry.”

John murmured condolences, as Naomi beamed at him. 

“Look at that! Your first time here, and you beat John himself! Ani, you didn’t tell me you were so good!”

“Ah, I think he was just distracted. Lucky hit.”

“Those were an awful lot of lucky hits,” Naomi said reprovingly.

“He’s amazing, no doubt about it!” John vouched. “I don’t understand a bit of what his style is, but there’s no doubting his skill. I’d really like to see more of you, Anakin. See if you can teach _me_ anything.”

“I might have to do tha-”  
  


“Naomi!”

Naomi whirled to see a man with shoulder length brown hair running towards her, before tripping on his own feet and stumbling the rest of the way there.

“Andrew! Are you alright?” She rushed forward, catching Andrew by his shoulders and helping him regain his balance. 

“Hm, yes of course! You’re here!” Andrew proceeded to blush at his own words, and Naomi giggled, hunching her shoulders. 

“Awww, um, thank you. Um, Anakin! This is Andrew! He’s a friend of mine.” Naomi turned to face Andrew, one arm intertwined with Andrew’s. 

Anakin paused. “A _friend_?”

Both of them blushed to the roots and stammered, before being saved by John. “Friends. Yes. Every time they’re here together they wind up together somehow, platonically talking and platonically sparring and platonically flirting.”

“Wha… _no_!” Naomi leaned forward, eyes wide. “No, we’re uh… friends!”

“Yeah!” Andrew chimed in, straightening to his full height. 

Anakin nodded sagely, as John excused himself to work with another student.

“Of course, I see.”

The two nodded at him, before Andrew turned, and, doing his best to ignore Anakin, cleared his throat. “Of course, I… _platonically_ made you a gift…”

“Andrew, really?” 

Andrew nodded, and Anakin made a mental note to tease Naomi endlessly the second they left the building. 

* * *

Naomi walked with her head straight forward, and her newfound crochet cup holder safely ensconced in her grasp. 

“Sooo. _Andrew_ , huh.”

“You shut up, Anakin Skywalker.”

“You had to know this was going to happen. If he sees you every time, you had to know this was coming.”

“Well, I didn’t realize you were going to be so unbearable about it.”

Anakin grinned. “Oh, you think I’m unbearable? Wait til Ulisses and I get together. Hey, how come I haven’t heard about Andrew before now?”

“I suppose because you didn’t have any reason to meddle in my private friendships, Anakin.”

Anakin chuckled. “You know, you’re a _completely_ different person in front of strangers than you are with friends. And that’s a nice cup holder.”

Naomi tried to keep a straight face, but a smile twitched at her lips. “It is a very nice cup holder.”


	11. Chapter 11

It hadn’t been in Anakin’s weekend plans to take care of the glowing green man who fell from the sky. But life was funny. So here he was.

Anakin had been leaning on the railing to his front porch when a green meteor plummeted out of the sky, taking a header into his back lawn. He had rushed forward, immediately on guard, but feeling the tug of the force pull him towards a distressed lifeform. 

The lifeform appeared to be a man, humanoid at least, who wore a green and black suit with a small mask that barely covered his eyes and nose. His dirty brown hair was streaked with blood. Anakin was fairly sure this was the hero known as ‘Green Lantern’. 

Despite being unsure of what to do with him, it was painfully obvious that Green Lantern was not doing well. Rips perforated his uniform, and blood crusted all over his body. Despite both that, and the fact that the Lantern was completely unconscious, nothing appeared to be life-threatening, and Anakin hauled the unresponding body into his bathtub in his newly acquired and heavily mortgaged house. 

Without even thinking, he  _ called _ medical supplies to his hands, wetting a washcloth to run over whatever exposed cuts he could find. 

‘ _ BATTERY LEVELS: 0%’ _

Anakin jerked away from the ring on the man’s finger, which flashed a bright green before light spread over the Lantern’s body, the suit disappearing as it did, revealing ordinary clothing underneath. 

Anakin rushed to strip away the bomber jacket the man was wearing before it could become soaked with blood, sensing that the hero had a strong emotional attachment to the clothing. 

After that, the only attention that seemed to be required was basic medical care - washing wounds and simple stitches. 

Anakin sat back on his heels and sighed. The unconsciousness seemed to stem from a large lump on the back of the man’s head, and he was loath to take the man to a hospital. From what he gathered, heroes didn’t visit hospitals unless it was absolutely necessary, and he doubted there was a real possibility of permanent damage. 

Anakin rubbed a hand through his hair before settling into a crosslegged stance, and allowing the force to flow through him into the man before him, attempting to ensure that the head wound healed correctly. 

Time seemed to pass strangely, in the way it did when immersed in the force. Presently, Anakin was woken up by the pangs of hunger, and the realization that he didn’t have any more gauze, but the man was still bleeding. 

This was a problem. 

He couldn’t exactly  _ leave _ the man in this condition, but clearly someone needed to go shopping. Palming his phone, he found Ulisses in his contacts. No answer. All Anakin knew was that he had  _ better _ be busy doing something important. 

Anakin worried his bottom lip between his teeth and eyed the man in front of him. He had to do it. There was no other choice, honestly. 

He dialed Naomi. 

She picked up on the 5th ring, voice ringing through the speakers. “ _ Hey, Ani. Need anything?” _

“Yeah… I need you to pick up some gauze, band-aids, um… disinfectant… and maybe some ice packs. And then bring them over to my house.”

“What did Ulisses do.”

Anakin snorted. “This actually has nothing to do with him. Just please do it, and quick? I’ll explain everything when you get here. But don’t tell anyone, okay?”

There was a brief silence followed by shuffling. “Right. I’m on it. Be there in a few.”

Anakin nodded as he disconnected the call, sighing as he moved to find something to cover the Lantern’s face for when Naomi arrived.

* * *

“I’m here!” Naomi bustled inside the door, clutching bags of medical equipment. “What’s going on?”

“Yeah, um… there’s a guy in the bathroom…” Anakin led her over to the bathroom where the unconscious Lantern still resided in his bathtub. “Yeah, he needs help.”

The man’s face was covered by a large pair of sunglasses, which Anakin figured would do about as much to protect his identity as the mask he’d been previously wearing would’ve.

Naomi didn’t waste a second upon seeing the prone man, immediately rushing forward to make sure his feet were properly elevated and feel his pulse. “When was the last time he displayed signs of consciousness?” 

Anakin settled in beside her, moving to rewrap a wound on his arm as Naomi held the limb steady. 

“I don’t know. I think he was unconscious when I found him. Don’t worry, though, he’ll be okay.”

Naomi gave him a look that clearly displayed her lack of faith in Anakin’s unsubstantiated medical venture.

“Alright… Ulisses already knows this but, uh… I’ve got some stuff to tell you.” 

For the first time around her, Anakin slipped the glove off his hand, the metal glinting warmly in the light. 

“You… you said it was damaged in an accident…”

“Yeah… the idea is that people think I’m just shy about scarring, not…” Anakin sighed. “I mean, it  _ was _ damaged in an accident. Where it got cut off. I built myself the new hand. Also… I was born with powers.”

“You’re a metahuman?”

“I don’t think I’ve got a metagene. But I was born with powers - I can… move things with my mind,” Anakin levitated a wrap of gauze to hover between the two of them. 

“And I can jump really well. And, uh, I can… sense things? It’s hard to explain, but I’m connected to life. So I can just tell that this guy is gonna be okay.”

Naomi pressed a hand to her forehead, obviously teaming with questions, but refocusing on the wounded. 

“And who’s he? A superpowered friend of yours?”

“No. He…” Anakin paused, considering how much to tell Naomi. But, she deserved to know who she was helping, and he was trying to hide the man’s secret identity.

“He literally fell out of the sky. I think this is Green Lantern.”

Naomi’s eyes widened. “Aren’t there a bunch of those?”

Anakin shrugged. “Dunno. This is one, at least.”

Naomi nodded, slowly. “Right. And… and he still needs more bandaging. Hand it over.”

Anakin aquiced, impressed by Naomi’s focus.

“You’ve got to have questions for me. I just dropped a lot on you.”

“It can wait until I’m sure that he’s going to be okay. Not that I don’t trust you,” Naomi immediately reassured, “I just want to double check - I don’t know much about your powers.”

Anakin nodded. “I understand completely. Do what you need to.” 

The next few minutes were spent in a blur of bandages and ice packs, before Naomi finally sat back on her heels and sighed. 

  
“That ought to do it.  _ Now _ … you said Ulisses already  _ knew _ ?”


End file.
